Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond by Steve Hagen PDF

Bestselling writer and popular Zen instructor Steve Hagen penetrates the main crucial and enduring questions on the middle of the Buddha's teachings: How will we see the area in every one second, instead of basically as what we expect, desire, or worry it's? How do we base our activities on truth, instead of at the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How do we reside lives which are clever, compassionate, and in song with fact? and the way will we separate the knowledge of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that experience end up linked to it?

Drawing on down-to-earth examples from lifestyle and tales from Buddhist academics earlier and current, Hagen tackles those basic inquiries together with his trademark lucid, ordinary prose. The newcomer to Buddhism may be encouraged through this obtainable and provocative advent, and people extra conversant in Buddhism will welcome this a lot wanted hands-on advisor to knowing what it really ability to be conscious. by way of being challenged to question what we take without any consideration, we come to work out the realm because it really is. Buddhism isn't really What You Think deals a profound and transparent route to a lifetime of pleasure and freedom.

The Diamond Sutra, composed in India within the fourth century CE, is likely one of the so much valuable works of Buddhist literature and is the oldest current published publication on this planet. it really is often called the Diamond Sutra simply because its teachings are acknowledged to be like diamonds that reduce away all dualistic notion, freeing one from the attachment to things and bringing one to the extra shore of enlightenment.

Long ago eu students have tended to regard either Madhyamaka and Yog? c? ra as separate and essentially adverse developments in Mah? y? na Buddhist proposal. Drawing seriously on early textual facts this paintings questions the validity of the sort of "Mah? y? na faculties" speculation. by means of down-playing the past due commentorial traditions, the writer makes an attempt a common reappraisal of the epistemological and ontological writings of Nagarjuna, Asanga and Vasubandhu.

Additional info for Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs

Example text

We act before we see. For example, take nanotechnology, the technology of the very small, which enables us to make machines on a molecular scale. We are learning to build microscopic machines and robots, some of which will have the ability to reproduce themselves. While we might be able to get such little devices to do all kinds of nifty things for us, we might also discover that we ’ve created something we’d later like to stop—and ﬁnd that we have no way to do so. Imagine billions of tiny machines with the ability to replicate themselves from materials in the environment.

It’s the same for us right now.

Reality. All of it. The Whole. Nothing in particular. Why not live as though you realize that this is true—as though you realize that there is no separation, no distinction, between you and Reality? If you do, there will no longer be any mystery to existence. Mystery only comes about when we wall ourselves off, divide the world into this and that, distinguish ourselves from everything else. Reality is not a thought. Reality is not what you think. Reality is not what you can think. Reality is what is immediately experienced.